Flask Restful API Example Tutorial

This tutorial will guide you through creating a simple RESTful API using Flask. RESTful APIs are a popular way to build web services that are easy to use and maintain.

What is Flask?

Flask is a micro web framework for Python. It is known for its simplicity and ease of use. Flask is great for small to medium-sized web applications.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• Python installed on your system
• Flask installed (pip install flask)

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Create a new Flask application

First, create a new Python file for your application, for example, app.py.

from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def index():
    return "Hello, World!"

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Step 2: Define a RESTful resource

In this example, we will create a simple resource for a "User". To define a resource, we use the @app.route() decorator to specify the URL and the function that will handle the request.

@app.route('/users', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def users():
    if request.method == 'GET':
        # Return a list of users
        return jsonify(users_list)
    elif request.method == 'POST':
        # Create a new user
        user = request.json
        users_list.append(user)
        return jsonify(user), 201

Step 3: Run the application

Run the application using the following command:

python app.py

Your Flask application should now be running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/.

Learn More

For more detailed information and examples, check out our Flask documentation.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created a simple RESTful API using Flask. RESTful APIs are a powerful tool for building web services, and Flask is a great framework for getting started.